How should one
understand
the retribution of Brahmin merit which lasts a kdpa?
Abhidharmakosabhasyam-Vol-2-Vasubandhu-Poussin-Pruden-1991
Commentary of the Anguttara, iv.
236 (Siamese edition): dsajja danam detUi patvd danam deti dgatam disvdva tarn muhuttam yeva nisiddpetvd sakkdram katvd danam deti.
527. Commentary on the Anguttara: bhaydtiayamaddyako akdrako tigarahdbhaydapdyabhayd vd.
528. This second list is quoted Vydkhyd, ad. iii. 41, at the end.
529. According to Saeki: sama signifies that which produces a heavenly rebirth; visama, that which
produces a bad realm of rebirth.
530. Hsiian-tsang translates: "He makes beings produce the pure dharmakdya. " Paramartha: "He
produces the dharmakaya. " See above p. 601.
531. Hsiian-tsang: All the mental projections: "I should do this and that; I shall do this and that. "
Note of the editor: "This is distant preparatory action. "
532. Compare Milinda, 193, on lying which is serious or light by reason of its object (vattbupasena); in this same way killing is unimportant when the animal is small, Atthasdtini, p. 97.
? 533. According to Paramartha and Hsiian-tsang: "The Sutra says that there are two types of actions, krta action and upacita aaion. " According to Saeki, this Sutra is the Karmavipdkavibhangasmra (? ) (yeh-pao cb'a-pieh dW>>g|g^|i$]$|). See Koto, v. l.
Majjhima, iii. 207: samcetanikam. . . kammam katvd. . . kim so vediyati. Annguttara, v. 202: ndham samcetanikdndm kammdnam katdnam upacitdnam appafisamviditvd vyantibhdvam vaddmi. Divya, passim: na karniMiknanyupacitaniprthivUhdtau vipacyante; Kathdvatthu, xv. ll; MadhyamakavrtU, p. 303.
FortheVedantictheory,seethesourcesgiveninG. A. Jacob,Veddntasdra,Bombay,1911,p. 160 (samcitakarman = upacitao, kiiyzmanani karmani drabdhaphaldni karmdni).
534. See above, p. 625.
535. Samcintya = samcicca, Mahdvyutpatti, 245. 68. Manu, xL90, prescribes penitences for the involuntary murder (akdmatas), which greatly resembles asamcintya, of a Brahmin. Voluntary murder is inexpiatable.
536. Vydkhyd: Ndbuddhipurvam na sahasdkftam iti/atha va ndbuddhipurvam krtam idarh kurydm ityasamcintyakrtam/tan nopacitam/ avydkrtamnitatkarma/ nasahasdkftamitibuddhiptirvam apt na sahasdkftam /yadahhydsena bhdsydksepdn mrsM>ddddyanusthdnam krtam tadakuialam na punar upackam: "Orratherone should understand: abuddhipurva action,--the action that one does without deciding 1 shall do that,'--is not accumulated, for this action is morally neutral Action done
in haste, if preceded by a decision, is not accumulated, for example, lies uttered by verbal habit in the enthusiasm of discourse. It is though bhdsydksepa that the author of a treatise repeats, in a stereotyped enumeration, words which are not justified in such a place. (See ii. trans, p. 263).
The Vydkhydt presenting the characteristics of good action which is accumulated, says: evam ku/alam apiyojyam Hi/ katham samcetandtah / samcintya krtam bhavati/ ndbtiddhipurvakftam bhavati / tadyathd duydkrtacittena pdsdnam daddmiti suvarnapindam dadydt krtam tan na punar upacitam / avydkrtam hi tat karma / na sahasdkftam /yathd bhdsydksepat satyavacanam / krtam tat kufalam na punar upacitam.
537. Compare Anguttara, i. 249; above note ad iv. 50.
538. There is papassa kammassa samatikkamo, "passing beyond transgression," through abstention (virati = the undertaking of the precepts), and through meditation on compassion (maitri), Samyutta, iv. 317.
Prdtimoksa (Finot, JAs. 1913, ii. 16): "He who remembers a fault should disclose it; being disclosed, he will become tranquil. . . : dviskrtvdsyaphdsam bhavati. . . (see above iv. 39, note 174, and on lying through silence, iv. note 347). Pdtimokkha, in Vinaya Texts, 12 and Cullavagga, be 1. 4 (Vinaya Texts, iii. 305, note 1). Confession in the Mahayana, Bodhisattvabhutni, IJL
Divya, passim: "Recognize your transgression (atyayam atyayato defaya); this action will be reduced, destroyed, annihilated (apy evaitat karma tanutvam pariksayam parydddnam gaccheta) [Majjhima, iii. 247: yato . . . accayam accayato disvd yathddhammam pafikarosi tan te mayam pafiganhdma; Digha, 185; Anguttara, 1238, Burnouf, Introduction, p. 299; Bodhicatydvatdra, il66, etc]. By recognizing his transgression (having insulted an Arhat whose qualities he ignored) the vaiydvrtyakdra of Divya, 54-55, avoids hell, but nevertheless is reborn fifty times as the son of a slave.
. Siksasamuccaya, 160 and Bodhkarydvatdra, v. 98 quoting the CaturdharmakasMra, the fou dharmas by which the Bodhisattva triumphs over transgressions done and transgressions accumulated: vid&sandsamuddcdra (repentance), pratipaksasamuddedra (the practice of good), pratydpattibala (undertaking the precepts or virati), as*rayabala (taking Refuge in the Buddha, etc). Analogous doctrines, Subhdsitasamgraha,ed. Bendall (Museon, 1900) at the end.
Theragdthd 872 = Dhammapada 173: pdpam katath kusalena pithryati.
Footnotes 761
? 762 Chapter Four
Only tathdgataprasdda can wash away "the bad dharmas which Mara has planted in the Buddha" (read with the MSS buddhdvaropitdndmakuSaldndm dharmdndm. . . prakfdlanam); the faith (fraddha) and devotion (bhakti) of Mara with respect to the Buddha washes away all of his perfidies (vrjina), Divya, 359, Przyluski, Ugende d'Afoka, p. 358.
539. See above pp. 561 and 563.
540. We have seen (iv. 73) that the Buddha accepted beforehand all gifts made to Caityas.
The merit of gifts made to the Buddha and the Sangha is contested by many sects, see above
note 522.
On the cult of the deceased Buddha, Milmda, p. 100-101, Bodhicarydvatdra, ix. 36.
The place where the Prajfidparamita is taught becomes like a Caitya (caityabhutah krtah),
because the worship that one renders to it is a cause of the accumulation of merit {vandanddind punyopacayahetutvdt) (Abhisamaydlamkdrdloka ad Astasdhasrikd, p. 57).
541. Vydkhyd: Satrurayam na tavan mriyata ity anayd samjnaya.
542. The Nirgranthas think that a gift made to thieves, etc, bears bad results. But we do not admit that the quality of the field renders the result agreeable (ista): it makes the result important, eminent (vifista) in its type {Vydkhyd). In Majjhima i. 379, the Buddha counsels Upali to continue his generosities to the Nirgranthas; but he refrains from planting his gifts in a bad field According to Milmda, 258 (which quotes Majjhima, iii. 257), even a monk (samana) who has "totally fallen" {suvipanna) and who is of bad morals (dussila) purifies the gift: for one can wash himself in dirty water.
543. Hsuan-tsang: mo-tu-chia chu\ %. %? MM Paramartha: p'u-t'ao $($fc = grape.
544. Bad rupa: actions of the body and voice.
545. The text describing the one hundred merits which produce the marks (above p. 692) are given in the Vydkhyd; the interpretation (which we place within parentheses) is according to TD 28, p. 933bl6, Dharmatrata's treatise, quoted by Saeki. Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 889c22: prayogapariiuddhi, maulaparis'uddhi, prsfhaparifuddhi, vitarkdnupaghdta, and smrtyanuparigrhitatva,
546. The enumerations of the bhayas are numerous; we obtain our text by combining Anguttara, ii. 121 and iv. 364 (Dharmasamgraha, 71).
547. "Good absorption" signifies the mental {caitta) dharma called absorption and the five skandhas which coexist with this caitta. It is called "absorbed," because the mind which is good, but not associated with the caitta called absorption, 'is not bhdvand, impregnation or meditation: without doubt this mind impregnates the mental series, but not to the same degree as does absorption. It is called "good," because the absorption of defiled dhydnas, associated with enjoyment {dsvddana) (viii. 6), does not constitute punyakriydvastu bhdvandmaya. Bhdvand is equivalent to vdsand.
548. See Samyutta, iv. 312, on the inefficacy of funeral rituals; Anguttara, v. 211, the realm of rebirth of an assassin who gives alms.
549. Ekottara TD 2, p. 656a7; Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 825cl3. Catvdrah pudgald brdhmam punyam prasavanti / apratisphite pfthivipradeie tathagatasya fdriram stupam pratisfhdpayati / ayam prathamah pudgah brdhmam punyam prasavati/ cdturdife bhiksusamghe ardmam nitydtayati/
? ayarh dvitiyah. . . / bhinnam tathagatasya] frdvakasamghampratisamdadbdti/ ayarh trtiyah. . . / maitrisahagatena cittenavairena asapatnena (MSS. samprannena) avydbddhena vtpulena mahad- gatendpramdnena subhdvitenaikdm diiam adhimucya spharkvopasampadya viharati . . . ayam caturthah. See Mahdvyutpatti, 69, (editions of Wogihara and Sasaki), and the DaiabhUmaka quoted
in the Madhyamakdvatdra, 55,391, trans. Museon, 1907, p. 53; same variants.
Anguttara, v. 76: bhinnam pana bhante samgham samaggam katvd khh so pasavatiti /
brahmam Ananda pwffiam pasavatiti / kith pana bhante brahmam puilrlan ti / kappam Ananda saggamhi modatUi. There then follows the six pddas of Itivuttaka, 19: sukhdsamghassa sdmaggi. . . samaggam katvdna kappa saggamhi modati.
550. Samghabhadra (TD 29, p. 549c9) attributes this opinion to other masters.
551. According to a gloss of Saeki, the Sautrantikas or the Mahasamghikas. Samghabhadra (TD29,
p. 549c21): "There are other masters who say. . . "
552. In Suttanipdta, 502, a gift to an Arhat produces rebirth in heaven with Brahma. Paramartha corresponds, in the main, to the Tibetan. He translates 124c-d: "Four action are called Brahmin merits, because, for one kdpa, they produce the happiness of heavea" He also
enumerates the four actions (TD 29, p. 252a8).
Hsuan-tsang reverses the text of Vasubandhu. After having enumerated the four actions of the
Sutra, he continues: What is the measure of this merit? TheKarika (124c-d)says: 'To produce birth in heaven for one kdpa, etc, is the measure of Brahmin merit. " The Bbdsya says, "The former masters say: The merit that makes one dwell in heaven for a kdpa. . . "
. . . In another school, there is a gdthd: "A person of faith, of right views, who cultivates the ten excellent practices (carita), who engenders Brahmin merit dwells happily in the heavens for a kdpa" The Vaibhasikas say that the measure of this merit is that indicated for the action that ripens in marks. The Karika has the word "etcetera" in order to indicate the variety of opinions.
553. Vydkhyd: This merit is called brdhma,Brahmin, because it is the merit of Brahmas (brahmandm): the word Brahma signifies, in this expression, the Brahmapurohitas, since the Brahmapurohitas live a kdpa; since, in another Canon, we read these two pddas: brahman puny am prasavati kdpam svargesu modate. This merit is thus called Brahmin because [for its duration], it is like (sadharma) that of the Purohitas.
In Majjhima, ii. 207, metta is brahmdnam sahavyatdya maggo.
How should one understand the retribution of Brahmin merit which lasts a kdpa? Samghabhadra explains (TD 29, p. 594cl4): a person detached from Kamadhatu (vitaraga, virakta) who practices the four Immeasurable Meditations is reborn among the gods of a higher sphere and experiences a happiness which lasts one life of a kdpa. A person not detached from Kamadhatu who builds a stUpa, who constructs an drama, who reestablishes concord within the Sarhgha, and who, on many occasions, cultivates the preparatory action of compassion and the other Immeasurable Meditations--we say preparatory action, for in order to practice the Immeasurable Meditations themselves, one must enter into Dhyana, which supposes detachment from Kamadhatu--,this person also, as if he were to practice the fundamental (mould) Immeasurable Meditations, produces a heavenly (svdrgika) happiness lasting for one kdpa (kdparamdna). But is it not said above that, in Kamadhatu, there is no retribution for a good action which lasts a kdpa? There is no good action which lasts only an instant, which could, as is the case for certain bad actions, produce a life one kdpa in length: this is why we do not express ourselves in this way. But when many volitions are produced which bear on the same object (construction of a stupa, etc,), they produce in succession a heavenly result which lasts one kdpa: one dies in heaven in order to immediately take up a birth there again. There is thus no contradiction in speaking of a happiness lasting a kdpa.
The Vydkhyd summarizes this doctrine without naming Samghabhadra and ends with the words: brhat punyarh ity apare.
Footnotes 16b
? 764 Chapter Four
554. Anguttara, 191; Uwuttaka, 98 and 100: dvem&ni bhikkhave ddndni dmissaddnam ca dhammaddnam ca. Dharmasamgraha, 105, adds maitriddna Spence Hardy, Eastern Monachism, 196. Digha, iii. 191, dmisdnuppaddna.
555. Vydkhyd: AkiUsfadeland = akUspactttasamvtthapita deiana. 556. Compare nirdmisadbarmades'aka, Mahavyutpatti, 30. 37.
557. In Mahavastu, I 34, punyabhdgrya sattva = a being susceptible of acquiring merit; in the same way phalabbdgrya = a being susceptible of acquiring the results. (Compare Nettippakarana, 48).
Here punyabhdgrya kuSala = punyabhdgrya hitam. Or rather puny am bbajata Hi punyabhdk / punyabhdg eva punyabbdgiyam / svarthe kapratyayahh.
558. Moksabhdga is opposed to samsdrabhdga; or rather moksabhdga - moksaprdpti; thus moksabh&gfya = moksapraptyanuksla.
On moksabhdgfya, see Kofa, iii. 44c-d, vi. 24, vii. 36; Dhya, 50. 7,360. 1 (devotion, even though small, has Nirvana for its result), 363. 28; moksabtja, Karundpundarikd, 78. 14.
Vibh&sd, TD 27, p. 34c28: "In what period are the moksabbdgiya roots planted? In a period when the Buddhas appear: it happens,in faa, that the Buddhadharma exists in order that one be able to plant these roots. According to other masters, even when the Buddhadharma is absent, if one encounters a Pratyekabuddha, one can plant them. What body must one have in order to plant these roots? A male or a female body. On what occasion or by what cause does one plant these roots? By reason of giving, by reason of the precepts, by reason of hearing: but the cause is not required. Why? By reason of the variety of "intentions" (dfaya). There are some persons who, by giving a mouthful of food or a toothpick, plant these roots, for example, Candra, etc These persons, after having given, say: "I desire (pranidhi) that by reason of this I may obtain deliverance. " There are somepersonswhoeventhoughtheyhavegivenwithoutreserve(um-che^^) toagreatSangha (compare Takakusu, I-tsing, p. 40), do not plant these roots, like Wu-pao-ofef|^(Acancla, Araudra? ), etc; these, after having given, desire riches, etc, in a future life, not deliverance. In the same way there are certain persons who after having undertaken the Upavasa for a day and a night, after having recited one stanza of four verses, plant these roots; whereas there are others who undertake the Prdtimoksa for the whole of their life, who recite the Tripitaka, but who do not plant them. It all depends on the ardor of their inclination for Nirvana and on their disgust with existence.
559. Hsiian-tsang: Good mokfabhdgiya is the good which certainly produces Nirvana as its result The person in whom it has arisen is said to have within himself a dharma of Nirvana.
560. The same idea in the Mahayana, for example Madhyamakavatdra, vi. 4-5: pfthagjanatve'pi ni/amya i&nyatam. . . taniiruhotphullatannf ca jdyate / yat tasya sambuddhadiyo'sti btjam.
561. The khalabUa is a hole hollowed out in order that grain be deposited in it. Khala is the area for thrashinggrain:AmarakoSa,3. 3. 42. Paramartha:ti-k'an-ch'eWL&M- aholeoracrackintheearth, a fissure.
562. Digha, iii. 251 (cba nibbedhabhdgiyasatind), 277 (nibbedhabhdgryo samddhi, compare Kos'a, viii. 17). In the same sense mbbedhika is frequently encountered in the Angtatara; in the Visuddhimagga, there are eighty-eight nibbedbabhagim pofirtd, and fifteen nibbedhabhdgiyam silam. Nettippakarana, in passim. In the Divya four nirvedhabhagtyas are distinguished (compare 50. 8 and 166. 15).
? 563. In the Sastra "writings" or "scripture" do not signify writings in the worldly sense of the word (aksaracihnam pusfakddau), but the action by which writings are writtea In the same way, mudrd does not signify the seal having a mark, letter or other sign on it (aksardnaksaracihma), but the action by which the seal is carved (khanyate). (Vydkhyd). The Vibhdsd (TD 27, p. 660b23) gives calculation as an example.
564. Mahdvyutpatti, 218. 2-4: lipi mudrd (skou-suan =^% hastagananja, the "handrechnen" of Schiefner) Samkhya (shu-muWi @) ganand (shu-muWi & and suanW). EHvya (3. 18,26. 12, etc): lipi Samkhya ganand mudrd uddhdrd nydsa niksepa, and then the eight pariksds. Mahdvastu, ii. 423: lekha lipi Samkhya ganand mudrd dhdrannd. . .
ThelistoftheBrahmajdla:mudddganandsamkhdnakdveyyo. . . isexplainedbyBuddhaghosa, Rhys Davids (Dialogues, L22), O. Franke (Digha in Auswahl, 18-19). On kdveyya, also see Mrs. Rhys Davids, Theragdthd) 1253.
565. Compare Vibhanga, hina majjhima pan&a, p. 17 et passim.
566. Prakarana, TD 26, p. 7l6a5: "What are the sa-uttara dharmas? Conditioned dharmas, space, and apratisamkhydnirodha. " Same terminology in the Abhidhamma, Vibhanga, p. 19 et passim.
527. Commentary on the Anguttara: bhaydtiayamaddyako akdrako tigarahdbhaydapdyabhayd vd.
528. This second list is quoted Vydkhyd, ad. iii. 41, at the end.
529. According to Saeki: sama signifies that which produces a heavenly rebirth; visama, that which
produces a bad realm of rebirth.
530. Hsiian-tsang translates: "He makes beings produce the pure dharmakdya. " Paramartha: "He
produces the dharmakaya. " See above p. 601.
531. Hsiian-tsang: All the mental projections: "I should do this and that; I shall do this and that. "
Note of the editor: "This is distant preparatory action. "
532. Compare Milinda, 193, on lying which is serious or light by reason of its object (vattbupasena); in this same way killing is unimportant when the animal is small, Atthasdtini, p. 97.
? 533. According to Paramartha and Hsiian-tsang: "The Sutra says that there are two types of actions, krta action and upacita aaion. " According to Saeki, this Sutra is the Karmavipdkavibhangasmra (? ) (yeh-pao cb'a-pieh dW>>g|g^|i$]$|). See Koto, v. l.
Majjhima, iii. 207: samcetanikam. . . kammam katvd. . . kim so vediyati. Annguttara, v. 202: ndham samcetanikdndm kammdnam katdnam upacitdnam appafisamviditvd vyantibhdvam vaddmi. Divya, passim: na karniMiknanyupacitaniprthivUhdtau vipacyante; Kathdvatthu, xv. ll; MadhyamakavrtU, p. 303.
FortheVedantictheory,seethesourcesgiveninG. A. Jacob,Veddntasdra,Bombay,1911,p. 160 (samcitakarman = upacitao, kiiyzmanani karmani drabdhaphaldni karmdni).
534. See above, p. 625.
535. Samcintya = samcicca, Mahdvyutpatti, 245. 68. Manu, xL90, prescribes penitences for the involuntary murder (akdmatas), which greatly resembles asamcintya, of a Brahmin. Voluntary murder is inexpiatable.
536. Vydkhyd: Ndbuddhipurvam na sahasdkftam iti/atha va ndbuddhipurvam krtam idarh kurydm ityasamcintyakrtam/tan nopacitam/ avydkrtamnitatkarma/ nasahasdkftamitibuddhiptirvam apt na sahasdkftam /yadahhydsena bhdsydksepdn mrsM>ddddyanusthdnam krtam tadakuialam na punar upackam: "Orratherone should understand: abuddhipurva action,--the action that one does without deciding 1 shall do that,'--is not accumulated, for this action is morally neutral Action done
in haste, if preceded by a decision, is not accumulated, for example, lies uttered by verbal habit in the enthusiasm of discourse. It is though bhdsydksepa that the author of a treatise repeats, in a stereotyped enumeration, words which are not justified in such a place. (See ii. trans, p. 263).
The Vydkhydt presenting the characteristics of good action which is accumulated, says: evam ku/alam apiyojyam Hi/ katham samcetandtah / samcintya krtam bhavati/ ndbtiddhipurvakftam bhavati / tadyathd duydkrtacittena pdsdnam daddmiti suvarnapindam dadydt krtam tan na punar upacitam / avydkrtam hi tat karma / na sahasdkftam /yathd bhdsydksepat satyavacanam / krtam tat kufalam na punar upacitam.
537. Compare Anguttara, i. 249; above note ad iv. 50.
538. There is papassa kammassa samatikkamo, "passing beyond transgression," through abstention (virati = the undertaking of the precepts), and through meditation on compassion (maitri), Samyutta, iv. 317.
Prdtimoksa (Finot, JAs. 1913, ii. 16): "He who remembers a fault should disclose it; being disclosed, he will become tranquil. . . : dviskrtvdsyaphdsam bhavati. . . (see above iv. 39, note 174, and on lying through silence, iv. note 347). Pdtimokkha, in Vinaya Texts, 12 and Cullavagga, be 1. 4 (Vinaya Texts, iii. 305, note 1). Confession in the Mahayana, Bodhisattvabhutni, IJL
Divya, passim: "Recognize your transgression (atyayam atyayato defaya); this action will be reduced, destroyed, annihilated (apy evaitat karma tanutvam pariksayam parydddnam gaccheta) [Majjhima, iii. 247: yato . . . accayam accayato disvd yathddhammam pafikarosi tan te mayam pafiganhdma; Digha, 185; Anguttara, 1238, Burnouf, Introduction, p. 299; Bodhicatydvatdra, il66, etc]. By recognizing his transgression (having insulted an Arhat whose qualities he ignored) the vaiydvrtyakdra of Divya, 54-55, avoids hell, but nevertheless is reborn fifty times as the son of a slave.
. Siksasamuccaya, 160 and Bodhkarydvatdra, v. 98 quoting the CaturdharmakasMra, the fou dharmas by which the Bodhisattva triumphs over transgressions done and transgressions accumulated: vid&sandsamuddcdra (repentance), pratipaksasamuddedra (the practice of good), pratydpattibala (undertaking the precepts or virati), as*rayabala (taking Refuge in the Buddha, etc). Analogous doctrines, Subhdsitasamgraha,ed. Bendall (Museon, 1900) at the end.
Theragdthd 872 = Dhammapada 173: pdpam katath kusalena pithryati.
Footnotes 761
? 762 Chapter Four
Only tathdgataprasdda can wash away "the bad dharmas which Mara has planted in the Buddha" (read with the MSS buddhdvaropitdndmakuSaldndm dharmdndm. . . prakfdlanam); the faith (fraddha) and devotion (bhakti) of Mara with respect to the Buddha washes away all of his perfidies (vrjina), Divya, 359, Przyluski, Ugende d'Afoka, p. 358.
539. See above pp. 561 and 563.
540. We have seen (iv. 73) that the Buddha accepted beforehand all gifts made to Caityas.
The merit of gifts made to the Buddha and the Sangha is contested by many sects, see above
note 522.
On the cult of the deceased Buddha, Milmda, p. 100-101, Bodhicarydvatdra, ix. 36.
The place where the Prajfidparamita is taught becomes like a Caitya (caityabhutah krtah),
because the worship that one renders to it is a cause of the accumulation of merit {vandanddind punyopacayahetutvdt) (Abhisamaydlamkdrdloka ad Astasdhasrikd, p. 57).
541. Vydkhyd: Satrurayam na tavan mriyata ity anayd samjnaya.
542. The Nirgranthas think that a gift made to thieves, etc, bears bad results. But we do not admit that the quality of the field renders the result agreeable (ista): it makes the result important, eminent (vifista) in its type {Vydkhyd). In Majjhima i. 379, the Buddha counsels Upali to continue his generosities to the Nirgranthas; but he refrains from planting his gifts in a bad field According to Milmda, 258 (which quotes Majjhima, iii. 257), even a monk (samana) who has "totally fallen" {suvipanna) and who is of bad morals (dussila) purifies the gift: for one can wash himself in dirty water.
543. Hsuan-tsang: mo-tu-chia chu\ %. %? MM Paramartha: p'u-t'ao $($fc = grape.
544. Bad rupa: actions of the body and voice.
545. The text describing the one hundred merits which produce the marks (above p. 692) are given in the Vydkhyd; the interpretation (which we place within parentheses) is according to TD 28, p. 933bl6, Dharmatrata's treatise, quoted by Saeki. Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 889c22: prayogapariiuddhi, maulaparis'uddhi, prsfhaparifuddhi, vitarkdnupaghdta, and smrtyanuparigrhitatva,
546. The enumerations of the bhayas are numerous; we obtain our text by combining Anguttara, ii. 121 and iv. 364 (Dharmasamgraha, 71).
547. "Good absorption" signifies the mental {caitta) dharma called absorption and the five skandhas which coexist with this caitta. It is called "absorbed," because the mind which is good, but not associated with the caitta called absorption, 'is not bhdvand, impregnation or meditation: without doubt this mind impregnates the mental series, but not to the same degree as does absorption. It is called "good," because the absorption of defiled dhydnas, associated with enjoyment {dsvddana) (viii. 6), does not constitute punyakriydvastu bhdvandmaya. Bhdvand is equivalent to vdsand.
548. See Samyutta, iv. 312, on the inefficacy of funeral rituals; Anguttara, v. 211, the realm of rebirth of an assassin who gives alms.
549. Ekottara TD 2, p. 656a7; Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 825cl3. Catvdrah pudgald brdhmam punyam prasavanti / apratisphite pfthivipradeie tathagatasya fdriram stupam pratisfhdpayati / ayam prathamah pudgah brdhmam punyam prasavati/ cdturdife bhiksusamghe ardmam nitydtayati/
? ayarh dvitiyah. . . / bhinnam tathagatasya] frdvakasamghampratisamdadbdti/ ayarh trtiyah. . . / maitrisahagatena cittenavairena asapatnena (MSS. samprannena) avydbddhena vtpulena mahad- gatendpramdnena subhdvitenaikdm diiam adhimucya spharkvopasampadya viharati . . . ayam caturthah. See Mahdvyutpatti, 69, (editions of Wogihara and Sasaki), and the DaiabhUmaka quoted
in the Madhyamakdvatdra, 55,391, trans. Museon, 1907, p. 53; same variants.
Anguttara, v. 76: bhinnam pana bhante samgham samaggam katvd khh so pasavatiti /
brahmam Ananda pwffiam pasavatiti / kith pana bhante brahmam puilrlan ti / kappam Ananda saggamhi modatUi. There then follows the six pddas of Itivuttaka, 19: sukhdsamghassa sdmaggi. . . samaggam katvdna kappa saggamhi modati.
550. Samghabhadra (TD 29, p. 549c9) attributes this opinion to other masters.
551. According to a gloss of Saeki, the Sautrantikas or the Mahasamghikas. Samghabhadra (TD29,
p. 549c21): "There are other masters who say. . . "
552. In Suttanipdta, 502, a gift to an Arhat produces rebirth in heaven with Brahma. Paramartha corresponds, in the main, to the Tibetan. He translates 124c-d: "Four action are called Brahmin merits, because, for one kdpa, they produce the happiness of heavea" He also
enumerates the four actions (TD 29, p. 252a8).
Hsuan-tsang reverses the text of Vasubandhu. After having enumerated the four actions of the
Sutra, he continues: What is the measure of this merit? TheKarika (124c-d)says: 'To produce birth in heaven for one kdpa, etc, is the measure of Brahmin merit. " The Bbdsya says, "The former masters say: The merit that makes one dwell in heaven for a kdpa. . . "
. . . In another school, there is a gdthd: "A person of faith, of right views, who cultivates the ten excellent practices (carita), who engenders Brahmin merit dwells happily in the heavens for a kdpa" The Vaibhasikas say that the measure of this merit is that indicated for the action that ripens in marks. The Karika has the word "etcetera" in order to indicate the variety of opinions.
553. Vydkhyd: This merit is called brdhma,Brahmin, because it is the merit of Brahmas (brahmandm): the word Brahma signifies, in this expression, the Brahmapurohitas, since the Brahmapurohitas live a kdpa; since, in another Canon, we read these two pddas: brahman puny am prasavati kdpam svargesu modate. This merit is thus called Brahmin because [for its duration], it is like (sadharma) that of the Purohitas.
In Majjhima, ii. 207, metta is brahmdnam sahavyatdya maggo.
How should one understand the retribution of Brahmin merit which lasts a kdpa? Samghabhadra explains (TD 29, p. 594cl4): a person detached from Kamadhatu (vitaraga, virakta) who practices the four Immeasurable Meditations is reborn among the gods of a higher sphere and experiences a happiness which lasts one life of a kdpa. A person not detached from Kamadhatu who builds a stUpa, who constructs an drama, who reestablishes concord within the Sarhgha, and who, on many occasions, cultivates the preparatory action of compassion and the other Immeasurable Meditations--we say preparatory action, for in order to practice the Immeasurable Meditations themselves, one must enter into Dhyana, which supposes detachment from Kamadhatu--,this person also, as if he were to practice the fundamental (mould) Immeasurable Meditations, produces a heavenly (svdrgika) happiness lasting for one kdpa (kdparamdna). But is it not said above that, in Kamadhatu, there is no retribution for a good action which lasts a kdpa? There is no good action which lasts only an instant, which could, as is the case for certain bad actions, produce a life one kdpa in length: this is why we do not express ourselves in this way. But when many volitions are produced which bear on the same object (construction of a stupa, etc,), they produce in succession a heavenly result which lasts one kdpa: one dies in heaven in order to immediately take up a birth there again. There is thus no contradiction in speaking of a happiness lasting a kdpa.
The Vydkhyd summarizes this doctrine without naming Samghabhadra and ends with the words: brhat punyarh ity apare.
Footnotes 16b
? 764 Chapter Four
554. Anguttara, 191; Uwuttaka, 98 and 100: dvem&ni bhikkhave ddndni dmissaddnam ca dhammaddnam ca. Dharmasamgraha, 105, adds maitriddna Spence Hardy, Eastern Monachism, 196. Digha, iii. 191, dmisdnuppaddna.
555. Vydkhyd: AkiUsfadeland = akUspactttasamvtthapita deiana. 556. Compare nirdmisadbarmades'aka, Mahavyutpatti, 30. 37.
557. In Mahavastu, I 34, punyabhdgrya sattva = a being susceptible of acquiring merit; in the same way phalabbdgrya = a being susceptible of acquiring the results. (Compare Nettippakarana, 48).
Here punyabhdgrya kuSala = punyabhdgrya hitam. Or rather puny am bbajata Hi punyabhdk / punyabhdg eva punyabbdgiyam / svarthe kapratyayahh.
558. Moksabhdga is opposed to samsdrabhdga; or rather moksabhdga - moksaprdpti; thus moksabh&gfya = moksapraptyanuksla.
On moksabhdgfya, see Kofa, iii. 44c-d, vi. 24, vii. 36; Dhya, 50. 7,360. 1 (devotion, even though small, has Nirvana for its result), 363. 28; moksabtja, Karundpundarikd, 78. 14.
Vibh&sd, TD 27, p. 34c28: "In what period are the moksabbdgiya roots planted? In a period when the Buddhas appear: it happens,in faa, that the Buddhadharma exists in order that one be able to plant these roots. According to other masters, even when the Buddhadharma is absent, if one encounters a Pratyekabuddha, one can plant them. What body must one have in order to plant these roots? A male or a female body. On what occasion or by what cause does one plant these roots? By reason of giving, by reason of the precepts, by reason of hearing: but the cause is not required. Why? By reason of the variety of "intentions" (dfaya). There are some persons who, by giving a mouthful of food or a toothpick, plant these roots, for example, Candra, etc These persons, after having given, say: "I desire (pranidhi) that by reason of this I may obtain deliverance. " There are somepersonswhoeventhoughtheyhavegivenwithoutreserve(um-che^^) toagreatSangha (compare Takakusu, I-tsing, p. 40), do not plant these roots, like Wu-pao-ofef|^(Acancla, Araudra? ), etc; these, after having given, desire riches, etc, in a future life, not deliverance. In the same way there are certain persons who after having undertaken the Upavasa for a day and a night, after having recited one stanza of four verses, plant these roots; whereas there are others who undertake the Prdtimoksa for the whole of their life, who recite the Tripitaka, but who do not plant them. It all depends on the ardor of their inclination for Nirvana and on their disgust with existence.
559. Hsiian-tsang: Good mokfabhdgiya is the good which certainly produces Nirvana as its result The person in whom it has arisen is said to have within himself a dharma of Nirvana.
560. The same idea in the Mahayana, for example Madhyamakavatdra, vi. 4-5: pfthagjanatve'pi ni/amya i&nyatam. . . taniiruhotphullatannf ca jdyate / yat tasya sambuddhadiyo'sti btjam.
561. The khalabUa is a hole hollowed out in order that grain be deposited in it. Khala is the area for thrashinggrain:AmarakoSa,3. 3. 42. Paramartha:ti-k'an-ch'eWL&M- aholeoracrackintheearth, a fissure.
562. Digha, iii. 251 (cba nibbedhabhdgiyasatind), 277 (nibbedhabhdgryo samddhi, compare Kos'a, viii. 17). In the same sense mbbedhika is frequently encountered in the Angtatara; in the Visuddhimagga, there are eighty-eight nibbedbabhagim pofirtd, and fifteen nibbedhabhdgiyam silam. Nettippakarana, in passim. In the Divya four nirvedhabhagtyas are distinguished (compare 50. 8 and 166. 15).
? 563. In the Sastra "writings" or "scripture" do not signify writings in the worldly sense of the word (aksaracihnam pusfakddau), but the action by which writings are writtea In the same way, mudrd does not signify the seal having a mark, letter or other sign on it (aksardnaksaracihma), but the action by which the seal is carved (khanyate). (Vydkhyd). The Vibhdsd (TD 27, p. 660b23) gives calculation as an example.
564. Mahdvyutpatti, 218. 2-4: lipi mudrd (skou-suan =^% hastagananja, the "handrechnen" of Schiefner) Samkhya (shu-muWi @) ganand (shu-muWi & and suanW). EHvya (3. 18,26. 12, etc): lipi Samkhya ganand mudrd uddhdrd nydsa niksepa, and then the eight pariksds. Mahdvastu, ii. 423: lekha lipi Samkhya ganand mudrd dhdrannd. . .
ThelistoftheBrahmajdla:mudddganandsamkhdnakdveyyo. . . isexplainedbyBuddhaghosa, Rhys Davids (Dialogues, L22), O. Franke (Digha in Auswahl, 18-19). On kdveyya, also see Mrs. Rhys Davids, Theragdthd) 1253.
565. Compare Vibhanga, hina majjhima pan&a, p. 17 et passim.
566. Prakarana, TD 26, p. 7l6a5: "What are the sa-uttara dharmas? Conditioned dharmas, space, and apratisamkhydnirodha. " Same terminology in the Abhidhamma, Vibhanga, p. 19 et passim.
